NEW DELHI: State-run NTPC today reported 18.90 per cent decline in standalone net profit at Rs 2,492.87 crore for the third quarter ended December due to decline in revenue from the power generation segment.

The company had posted a net profit Rs 3,074 crore in the same period of last fiscal, it said in a BSE filing.

However, the company's net profit in April-December period of the current fiscal rose to Rs 7,526.50 crore as compared to Rs 7,346.83 crore in the same period a year ago.

Total income of the company declined to Rs 17,657.99 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 19,371.33 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal.

Income from power generation fell to Rs 17,455.71 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal as compared with Rs 18,915.19 crore in same period a year ago.

During the third quarter, the company's gross power generation declined to 60.78 billion units from 61.34 billion units in the same period a year ago.

The gross power generation of the company in the first nine months of the current fiscal fell to 179.64 billion units from 179.94 billion units in the year-ago period.

The plant load factor (PLF) or proportion of installed capacity utilised by the company's coal based units has come down to 78.23 per cent in third quarter as compared with 80.79 per cent in the same period last fiscal.

In April-December period of this fiscal, the PLF for these plants too came down to 77.70 per cent as compared with 79.41 per cent in the same period a year ago.

The average power tariff of the company was Rs 3.21 per unit during the April-December period this fiscal.

The company also informed BSE that its board of Directors at a meeting held on January 29, 2016, have decided to pay interim dividend at the rate of 16 per cent (Rs 1.60 per share) on the face value of paid-up equity shares of Rs 10 each for the financial year 2015-16. The total dividend payment will be Rs 1,319.27 crore.

The date of payment of dividend shall be February 15, 2016, it said.

In a separate filing, the company's Board has accorded investment approval for Telangana Super Thermal Power Project, Phase-1 (2x800 MW) at current estimated cost of Rs 10,598.98 crore.

The PPAs power purchase agreements have been signed with Southern Power Distribution company of Telangana Limited and Northern Power Distribution company of Telangana Limited.

The Commercial Operation Date (CoD) of first unit is envisaged in 52 months and second unit at an interval of 6 months thereafter, it added.

“To save the environment and to fight climate change, my government has planned a major campaign. By 2022, we want to generate 175 GW of renewable energy. In the last three years, we have already achieved 60 GW or around one-third of this target,” he said.